Formal and informal help-seeking intentions/behaviors among students and workers during the COVID-19 pandemic: a scoping review.

The present review revealed that, although most studies included in the final analysis were cross-sectional, intentions/behaviors to seek help from both formal and informal sources decreased among university students, even those with mental health issues. Among healthcare workers, while the frequency of help-seeking from formal sources in person was low, a brief online intervention was suggested to be useful for promoting help-seeking from formal sources. During public health crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic, system and infrastructure development of online help-seeking services could potentially promote formal and informal help-seeking intentions/behaviors for diverse issues, including non-mental health-related issues, among university students and healthcare workers/providers.